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 The combination of approaches over several months appeared to
produce measurable improvements in dexterity, coordination and
strength, researchers report in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, and
many parents noted their child showed behavioral improvements as
well.
Coauthor B. Rhett Rigby of Texas Woman's University in Denton told
Reuters Health by email that the study indicates, "outside of
traditional gross and fine motor skills, behavioral and academic
improvements may be observed by incorporating brain-building tasks
before or after a child has participated in equine-assisted
activities."
Neurodevelopmental disorders typically involve impairments in
language and speech, cognition, behavior and motor skills, and
children often exhibit problems related to personal, social and
academic performance and functioning, the study authors note.
Past research has shown equine-assisted therapy, also known as
hippotherapy, can help improve strength, dexterity, coordination and
balance in children with autism spectrum disorder and ADHD, Rigby
and colleagues note.
The current study explored whether adding a set of brain-building
exercises to the equine-assisted therapy sessions made an additional
difference.
Twenty-five children, ages 6 to 15, participated in the study at a
local horse therapy facility over four 8-week periods. Their
diagnoses included ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual
development disorder, sensory processing disorder, global
developmental delay and anxiety or mood disorder.
Before and after each of the four study segments, researchers tested
the children's motor skills.
In the first 8-week period, the children went about their daily
lives with no intervention. Next, they received 8 weeks of
equine-assisted therapy activities only. The third 8-week period
mimicked the first, with no interventions. And, in the final 8
weeks, the children performed both equine-assisted activities and
brain-building tasks.
"With this research design, we were able to quantify contributions
of their daily life, equine-assisted activities, and the
brain-building activities to their overall motor skills," Rigby
said.
During horseback riding sessions, children were taught horse
anatomy, riding equipment and the basics of riding.
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For the brain-building activities, children were given exercises that train the
brain to process sensory information such as sound, sight, balance and spatial
orientation. Sessions included music therapy and hand-eye coordination tasks.
"Horseback riding appeared to have improved balance, posture, and core strength
in children with ADHD and ASD," Rigby said. In most measures, scores were higher
after the combination of riding with brain building than after the riding alone.
The study wasn't designed to measure behavioral changes, but Rigby said parents
provided "overwhelming" anecdotal evidence of positive differences on that
front.
"These are things that are difficult to measure," Rigby said. "For example, the
combination helped calm participants in social situations, increased their
desire to initiate verbal conversations, helped some of them begin to read and
elicited positive biopsychosocial changes including increased empathy,
compliance and memory."
The results are preliminary, noted Robin Gabriels, program director for
neuropsychiatric special care at Children's Hospital Colorado and a psychiatry
professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.
"I look forward to the researchers conducting a randomized clinical trial to
more definitively determine if equine-assisted activities combined with their
curriculum effectively improves motor skills compared to therapeutic riding by
itself," said Gabriels, who conducted the largest randomized controlled efficacy
trial to date on the impacts of therapeutic horseback riding in youth with
autism spectrum disorder.
The study authors agree that larger-scale research is needed. "With widespread
acceptance and more rigorous research, equine-assisted activities and therapies
may become more affordable and accessible," Rigby said.
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/37U2g2K Frontiers in Veterinary Science, online January
31, 2020.
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